Middle East

Feb. 11, 2014 | 12:10 AM

ISIS retreats from Deir al-Zor province

Syrians inspect the scene following a reported air strike attack by government forces on the Hanano district of the northern Syrian city of Aleppo on February 10, 2014. (AFP PHOTO / AMC / KHALED KHATIB)

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An Al-Qaeda splinter group has withdrawn its forces from Syria's oil-rich eastern province of Deir al-Zor, activists and rebels said Monday, after days of heavy fighting with rebel militias.

More than 2,300 rebels and ISIS militants have been killed in the past month of fighting, making it the bloodiest such episode since the conflict began nearly three years ago.

The Observatory, a British-based pro-opposition monitoring group, said ISIS militants had summarily executed an unspecified number of detainees it held in Deir al-Zor province before abandoning their position, while the rebels had done the same to a number of ISIS militants captured during the clashes.

Elsewhere, rebels claimed advances against regime troops in the village of Morek in Hama province, while in another village, Maan, rebels killed at least 40 people, activists said.

In the province of Deraa, regime airstrikes killed at least 10 people in the village of Taseel, the Observatory said, putting Sunday's nationwide death toll at 286 people, of whom 246 were fighters from the various sides.